A standing room only crowd was on hand Tuesday night as teachers and custodians voiced their concerns about losing their jobs in the coming school year. The topic of "out sourcing" took up most of the time during public comment but teachers also spoke about the possibility of losing their jobs as well. (RUBEN R RAMIREZ--EL PASO TIMES)

Teachers, custodians and parents questioned the transparency of El Paso Independent School District leaders at Tuesday's board meeting as changes are made to campus schedules and teacher positions are cut.

More than 100 people packed the boardroom, including many holding signs.

The meeting became a flashpoint for frustrations built up for several weeks from employees and parents who complained about a lack of inclusiveness on those decisions and rumored outsourcing of custodial positions — an action board members said was not under consideration.

"It is quite evident the board fails to acknowledge its constituents," said Xavier Miranda, a teacher at Coronado High School. "You've taken punitive steps in applying business reforms to our education system."

Principals at middle and high schools recently notified 131 teachers their positions will be eliminated because of a nearly $12 million budget deficit driven by declining enrollment and other factors. The district expects all of those teachers to find new positions within EPISD because of annual attrition.

The district has also directed middle schools to switch to an eight-period class day. Several schools operate on a block schedule with longer classes on alternating days. Parents and teachers have complained the new schedule won't provide enough instruction time each day.

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The board received its harshest criticism over rumors it planned to outsource the jobs of 400 custodial employees to a private company.

"How can the district distribute a handout that says custodial jobs will not be outsourced when the topic was openly discussed at a board workshop and a board meeting?" asked El Paso Federation of Teachers President Lucy Clarke. "How can a denial be trusted when at that same workshop the administration acknowledged they met with an outside custodial firm?"

REPORTER

Andrew Kreighbaum

Board President Dee Margo eventually responded to a series of speakers, saying the issue was discussed in the context of maintenance savings and went no further.

"The fact of the matter is we had a response back that outsourcing would not save us any money and it did not make any sense to even consider it," Margo said. "Nothing — nothing has been discussed subsequent to that."

EPISD Superintendent Juan Cabrera said in an interview the issue could have been addressed earlier by taking it up with the administration directly, although Clarke last week emailed him a letter about the custodian positions, which also was sent to the Board of Managers.

Cabrera said the standard eight-period class schedule will ensure students receive instruction in all classes each day, make transitions easier for students who move within the district, and reduce the amount of instruction time lost because of absences.